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Saturday, June 25, 2011

I {Heart} America!

Since we're headed towards the most patriotic of days - July 4th, our Independence day - I thought it was time to showcase the awesome A La Carte stamp from the Summer Mini - Land of the Free.

When I saw this stamp, I knew immediately that it would be on my first order from that catalog. I have a deep, deep love for America and all she stands for. Any chance I get to wave my flag, I do it, so this little stamp with the precious words of our beloved National Anthem just screamed to be part of my collection.

Here's the card I designed with it:

We made this at Stampin' Fools the other night - the head fool, Laura, has a daughter serving in the Navy and I knew she'd jump at the chance to have something special to send her.

It's really an easy cards to assemble, lots of layering, but nothing complicated there! The card base is Night of Navy, the focal panel and the mats are Crumb Cake and I used a piece of the Nautical Expedition Designer Paper for the side panel.

The focal image was stamped using the Stamp-a-ma-Jig and we placed it high on the panel so the little red glitter heart could be placed right under the "home of the BRAVE." We used some Red Glimmer Paper for the heart and the Small Heart Punch. The image itself was markered with Night of Navy and Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write markers.

Now, take a look at that background:

See the stars? We used the retiring Large Star Punch and punched six stars from Night of Navy cardstock. (This punch has now sold out, but you can substitute the Stars #2 Die and your Big Shot.) They were attached to the card base with Tombow Multi-Adhesive. We then trimmed off the overhanging edges with Paper Snips. I love this subtle, textured background and it's so easy to do with any punch shape! If you want that star punch though, you'd better get movin' - it's gone, gone, gone in just 5 short days!

All the panels were popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals and the side panel was finished off with a piece of Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding. I frayed the ends because it reminds me of the flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the war of 1812. That's when Francis Scott Key wrote our National Anthem, while imprisoned on a British ship. He was able to see this oversize American Flag through the haze of the fighting and was inspired to write the poem that eventually became our treasured song. You can see that flag even today - it's hanging in the Museum of American History which is part of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. We're so fortunate to live so close to our Nation's Capital for many reasons, but I confess, being able to easily visit our historic sites is one of my favorites.

So, I hope you liked the card - the Stampin' Fools loved it and I know it's gonna show up in a few of their loved ones mailboxes for this 4th of July! If you want to recreate it, I've included a complete supply list for you below. You can shop for all of those items in my Online Store 24/7. So convenient for you~!

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The content of this blog is the sole responsibility of Robin Merriman as an independent Stampin’ Up! demonstrator and the use of and content of the classes, services, or products offered on the DBWS, personal blog, web site, or other Internet medium is not endorsed by Stampin’ Up!